Teenagers and parents have been reminded of the importance of teaching driver safety following an accident that killed five teenagers on Sunday about four miles northeast of Dumas.

Jacob Paul Stipe, 16, of Sunray was driving a Chevrolet Cruze with four teenage passengers west on Morton Elevator Road and struck a Volvo tractor-trailer after disregarding a stop sign at Farm-to-Market Road 1284, Department of Public Safety officials said. Stipe and his passengers, October Dawn Roys, 17, of Dumas, Elizabeth Kay Roys, 15, of Dumas, Derrek Lee Hager, 17, of Stratford and Christopher Lee Moore, 17, of Sunray, were pronounced dead on the scene, officials said.

The tractor-trailer driver, Ezequiel Garcia of Amarillo, remains in critical condition at the burn unit of University Medical Center in Lubbock, officials said.

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among teens in the United States, and the fatality rate of 16 to 19-year-old drivers is four times that of 25 to 69-year-old drivers, according to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

About two-thirds of teen passenger deaths occur when another teen is driving, and teens are almost 10 times more likely to be in an accident during their first year on the road, according to the Children’s Hospital.

“Teens do recognize their ability, and they want to be seen as safe drivers and want to be responsible in their cars, but they do need to recognize how dangerous interacting with anything while driving can be,” said Chris Mullen, Director of Technology Research with State Farm.

Distracted driving can be a particular risk to teens, Mullen said.

“The problem is exacerbated by the fact they’re novice drivers, and learning to drive should be their No. 1 priority,” she said. “When we get on the road, we’re used to hazard awareness, or scanning the road looking for hazards to anticipate what there may be out there, so we’re ready to act. Teens are not used to the same behavior, and they’re looking straight ahead and not scanning for hazards.”

Mullen recommended teens learn to keep electrical devices out of the picture to keep abreast of potential problems on the road.

“As far as teen drivers are concerned, they have enough to do with learning to operate a car,” she said. “There should be no distractions in the car, and that includes electrical devices, like smartphones, but it also includes the radio and conversations. It’s critical that teen drivers don’t have teenage passengers in the first few months they have their license, because they can be distracting.”

But distracted driving isn’t limited to teens. According to a survey from State Farm, 61 percent of teens say their parents were distracted by cellphones or other electronic devices while they were teaching them to drive.

“Distraction is a reality for teens, but also for parents,” Mullen said. “Parents don’t realize their child has been watching them since they could see over back seat. If they are doing things like wearing their seatbelt, children start to learn what good driving looks like. It happens long before they are 15 or 16 years old.”

Texting also can present a safety risk while driving.

“I think people underestimate the level of distraction that can happen from one text or looking away from the road for a second,” Mullen said. “Teens have been texting first before driving, but the older generation learned to drive first. It needs to be something parents tell them first thing, that the phone can go in the console and is not touched again until the car is off.”

Wearing seat belts also is an important safety measure, particularly among teens, who have the lowest rate of seatbelt use of any age group, with 65 percent of teens consistently wearing seat belts, according to Children’s Hospital.

“A seatbelt is the primary and most efficient restraint, but for teens, they need to watch parents modeling this behavior from day one,” Mullen said. “They shouldn’t even turn their car on without it. It’s a misconception that you don’t need it if you’re just going on a short trip belt. It needs to be on every time.”

Mullen recommends parents think of themselves as role models while driving, but also avoid scare tactics in an effort to promote safe driving practices among their teens.

“They should foster a positive environment, explaining positive consequences,” she said. “Rather than touting negative consequences of bad behavior, they can explain all the good things that will come with (safe driving). It’s more effective than saying, ‘If you don’t do this, you will get hurt.’”

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I have lived in the area where this wreck happened and from personal knowledge it is far to easy to disregard this particular stop sign not only teenagers do it almost everybody does it. I have no immediate suggestion on how to get people to realize that it is a stop sign but if anybody has an answer please make your voice heard so maybe we can cut way down on accidents like this. I don't have clue what the kids were thinking just wish we could go back a few minutes before the crash and change things. I feel sorry for all the family's and friends left behind who have to mourn the loss of these kids. also feel for the trucker involved and his family and friends. because not only does he have to recover from his burns he has to live the rest of his life remembering what happened. One would not think that this intersection could be that bad because you can see a long ways in any direction but still we have numerous accidents here. Like I ask in the begining IF YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS ON HOW TO MAKE THESE COUNTY ROADS SAFER please let it be known. Thank you

I have lived in the area where this wreck happened and from personal knowledge it is far to easy to disregard this particular stop sign not only teenagers do it almost everybody does it. I have no immediate suggestion on how to get people to realize that it is a stop sign but if anybody has an answer please make your voice heard so maybe we can cut way down on accidents like this. I don't have clue what the kids were thinking just wish we could go back a few minutes before the crash and change things. I feel sorry for all the family's and friends left behind who have to mourn the loss of these kids. also feel for the trucker involved and his family and friends. because not only does he have to recover from his burns he has to live the rest of his life remembering what happened. One would not think that this intersection could be that bad because you can see a long ways in any direction but still we have numerous accidents here. Like I ask in the begining IF YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS ON HOW TO MAKE THESE COUNTY ROADS SAFER please let it be known. Thank you

I have lived in the area where this wreck happened and from personal knowledge it is far to easy to disregard this particular stop sign not only teenagers do it almost everybody does it. I have no immediate suggestion on how to get people to realize that it is a stop sign but if anybody has an answer please make your voice heard so maybe we can cut way down on accidents like this. I don't have clue what the kids were thinking just wish we could go back a few minutes before the crash and change things. I feel sorry for all the family's and friends left behind who have to mourn the loss of these kids. also feel for the trucker involved and his family and friends. because not only does he have to recover from his burns he has to live the rest of his life remembering what happened. One would not think that this intersection could be that bad because you can see a long ways in any direction but still we have numerous accidents here. Like I ask in the begining IF YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS ON HOW TO MAKE THESE COUNTY ROADS SAFER please let it be known. Thank you

I have lived in the area where this wreck happened and from personal knowledge it is far to easy to disregard this particular stop sign not only teenagers do it almost everybody does it. I have no immediate suggestion on how to get people to realize that it is a stop sign but if anybody has an answer please make your voice heard so maybe we can cut way down on accidents like this. I don't have clue what the kids were thinking just wish we could go back a few minutes before the crash and change things. I feel sorry for all the family's and friends left behind who have to mourn the loss of these kids. also feel for the trucker involved and his family and friends. because not only does he have to recover from his burns he has to live the rest of his life remembering what happened. One would not think that this intersection could be that bad because you can see a long ways in any direction but still we have numerous accidents here. Like I ask in the begining IF YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS ON HOW TO MAKE THESE COUNTY ROADS SAFER please let it be known. Thank you

I have lived in the area where this wreck happened and from personal knowledge it is far to easy to disregard this particular stop sign not only teenagers do it almost everybody does it. I have no immediate suggestion on how to get people to realize that it is a stop sign but if anybody has an answer please make your voice heard so maybe we can cut way down on accidents like this. I don't have clue what the kids were thinking just wish we could go back a few minutes before the crash and change things. I feel sorry for all the family's and friends left behind who have to mourn the loss of these kids. also feel for the trucker involved and his family and friends. because not only does he have to recover from his burns he has to live the rest of his life remembering what happened. One would not think that this intersection could be that bad because you can see a long ways in any direction but still we have numerous accidents here. Like I ask in the begining IF YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS ON HOW TO MAKE THESE COUNTY ROADS SAFER please let it be known. Thank you

Rick, all very good ideas. I know sometimes the State says things cost too much. All I can say to them is, "What is a life worth? You cannot place a dollar amount on anyone's life."

All these kids, dead. Dreams, dead. Families and friends grieving for the rest of their lives. 47 years ago, I lost a high school classmate to a horrific wreck, just blocks from the school. In all these years, I have mourned his loss.

The poor trucker... burned and most likely never able to work again. The State of Texas needs to use their brains and do something